Event Leaders in Sustainable Events

We all do important things, yet there are areas upon which everything else depends; the health of our planet is one such area. Despite the global reduction of activity, we are seeing record levels of pollution. Everything you and I hold dear is connected to our planets’ health. If we want peace, health and prosperity, or the joy and connection events bring to our world, we need to be serious about sustainability and the health of our planet.  


What exactly am I asking you to do? To get passionate about an area of sustainability in events and become a champion of it. Be OUR champion. Become the go-to person when our meetings & events industry needs to understand green electricity or sustainable gifting or paperless meetings. Be the subject matter expert who understands the issue and can help – the teacher, leader, inspiration – who gives others the courage and support to act on this vital issue. 

What can that leadership look like? Here is a three-step process to get you started, but please, get creative with your own ideas! 

1: Pick an area of sustainability you have passion for. At the MPI webinar, we identified three key areas – food waste, energy, and plastics. Are you, or could you become, the meetings industry expert on food waste? Or lowering energy use, or green energy options, or how to do a plastic free event? I suggest you choose something specific to work on, like name badges or beverages, to develop specific expertise that is actionable. 

2: How to develop expertise? Sustainability experts working on the core issue are a great place to start (i.e. plastics, food waste,) and ask them to help. Many great environmental experts have helped me learn about their field of study. I am happy to make introductions and recommend resources. 

3: Start your outreach and educate people on what you have learned. Talk about the climate crisis. Need a place to start? You can always write a blog piece for MPI. We’d love to have you as a speaker at The Sustainable Events Forum (https://tsef.ca/) or a guest on our Planners for the Planet podcast (https://tsef.ca/podcast>). Get out and share what you know! 

I attended the virtual Climate Reality Leadership training with 10,000 people from all around the world, and the phrase they kept repeating was “take action as if your world depends on it, because, your world depends on it….” The single biggest threat to the climate crisis is not carbon emissions or plastic waste – it’s our belief that someone else will fix this issue. This thought undermines the urge to act. I know because I used to think this too. 

MPI is an organization of leaders and while you are leading already in so many areas, I am asking you to add leadership on environmental issues to your schedule. Reach out to me anytime for resources, contacts, connections or as a sounding board – I am happy to be of service to you in finding your climate action voice and connecting you with platforms, audiences, mentors and peers to help you on your climate journey. Our world depends on all of us taking this journey. 

About the Author:

Natalie Lowe is a CMM and runs a destination management company in Niagara, Celebrate Niagara and can be reached at natalie@celebrateniagara.ca.